Feel free to populate the answers with examples and anecdotes.
Name of school
Glenmoor Secondary School
Background info (I can get this from the internet, but feel free to add something if you wish)
We are an all girls school based in Bournemouth. It has got around 900 students aged between 11 to 16 on roll call. We are a specialist in Maths and Computing school and therefore have 3 IT suites and a fantastic new resource called the Open Learning Centre. This has 72 computers which is largely open access and also open to the public out of hours. All 3 girls involved in our Internet Safety Assemblies are studying out top ICT qualifaction (worth 4 GCSEs) and have also started the ECDL course. Just to help me get a picture:
I won't use the information in this form, if at all. It just helps me to get a sense of what the school environment is like, tech-wise. Do you have fast broadband access to the internet? If so, is that from anywhere in the school?
Does the school have a Learning Platform, and if so which one, and is it well used?
Are sites like YouTube, Blogger and Facebook blocked? Do all staff have laptops? Do all students have laptops or handheld devices? What's the pupil:computer ratio? Are digital voice recorders available for use (for podcasting), or camcorders, or digital cameras?
Who is involved? (Girls' surnames won't be used in the article)
Three year 10 girls Jessica, Jasmin and Alice. There are also four year 11s Hannah, Jasminn, Amy and Kim are also heavily involved in Internet safety and have spoken at a National Conference in London and attending the IYAC. The IYAC involved them attending a 5 day event in London last July which was attended by representives from 25 countries. At the end they created a proposal which will be submitted to the United Nations for approval on the topic of Internet Safety. Would this be referring to the first press release given here(21st July 2008)?
Just to say, I think it's wonderful that you were invited to be involved in that. Well done.
Are you happy for me to use your first names, or would you rather I changed your names completely? Please bear in mind that the advantage of using your real names is that you get the credit, but the disadvantage is that it could be possible for someone to find out who you are given first name and year group (which I think I'd have to include otherwise there is no proper context). Please discuss with teachers and let me know, and ask your teacher to let me know that they approve your decision if you wish to use real names.
On the subject of Year groups, would I be correct in thinking that you were in Years 9 and 10 when the pack was created?
What is the internet safety pack?
The pack was printed powerpoint slides that the girls presented in assembly to all years in the school. The assembly also included the "You think you know" Internet Safety video which was then discussed. I am glad you decided to reword this, as it originally sounded like you showed something pretty nasty! How about something along the lines of "We also showed a video of a child who had been the victim of abuse. The video was made by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The video we showed was this one"? Was that the video you showed?
What does it consist of?
Slides in powerpoint containing research about internet statistics, the pros and cons of using the internet. There was also a section detailing hints and tips when using the Internet and staying safe. May I have a copy of it please (excluding the video)?
Why did you create it?
Originally all girls were chosen by Mr Guy (our Head of ICT) because we showed an active interest in the subject.
What subject? ICT in general, or internet safety in particular?
Once we all started we found the subject really interesting and were shocked to find out how uninformed people actually are about the dangers. We wanted to make people aware about how the internet can harm you if you dont know who you are talking to.
Were you given time in school to do it?
Yes, some during ICT lessons but generally we worked with Mr Guy after school hours.
Did it count towards anything, eg as a project for GCSE ICT?
No, we did it because it interested us and we wanted to raise awareness in other students.
Are you actually doing a course in ICT now?
Yes OCR Nationals Level 2 in Information Technology (equiv 4 GCSEs) and ECDL
The OCR qualification looks very good. Nice to get the ECDL certificate too.
How did it work, ie what exactly did you do with the pack?
We gave assembelies to every year in the school with prinouts of the pack available afterwards.
Who was the target audience?
11-15 year olds mainly. Although the content was suitable for wider audiences.
Do you think your peers listened to you? How do you know?
Yes because afterwards we had a student go to Miss Bond (our child protection officer) to discuss problems that she had on msn.
What was that, somebody pestering her, or cyberbullying, or what? No need to say if you would rather not.
Also, did it have a lasting impact, or is it too early to say?
Its too early to say but we have already had evidence of the impact. Our peers have also commented on the assembly and we were very pleased with the feedback.
What would be really helpful in this context would be some statistics, if you’ve got them (eg 78% of pupils thought it was very good), and examples of comments (if you kept them).
Why do you think it is appropriate to have pictures of girls on an internet safety pack? Surely this is self-contradictory in a sense?
Girls and boys both use the Internet and are therefore both a target audience for such a pack so we do not feel so. Although we did not use any pupil photos or names in our pack at all.
If I remember correctly, there was no indication of where the picture came from, which is why I wondered if it was of pupils at the school.
Where was it distributed?
Internally in school.
Do you intend to do it again? If so, will you amend it?
Yes we wish to carry on and do even more research. We have lots of ideas. Software is always changing so we need to make sure we are always up to date. We want to liase with other schools to share our research and ideas with them.
That is interesting. I have a couple of Qs:
What research have you done?
The article will be seen by thousands of teachers all over the world, so would you like to use the opportunity to invite other schools to collaborate with you? If so, try and draft a sentence to that effect, giving someone’s name and contact details (a teacher’s obviously!)
Have you shared it with other schools, or will you sell it?
We would like the oppertunity share it with other schools which was one of the reasons we entered the Rolls Royce Competition. We were very thrilled to win a prize as well. Yes, a prize well-deserved. I was really pleased when it was announced. Congratulations.
What lessons have you learnt from doing this?
We now know a lot about internet safety and now we realise how much teenagers aren't aware of the risks.
The interesting thing for me is that from my own research and what other people have written, teenagers often DO know the risks in theory, but don’t act as though they do. You might find this article, by a 16 y/o girl, interesting in this respect.
This could be very dangerous. The year 11s who attended the IYAC also commented it was frightning how little parents know about the risks, and very few have talked to their children about it.
I agree with you. It’s exactly the same in the USA too.
Any other points you'd like to add?
Overall we feel Internet Safety needs more awareness as people just don't know enough about it. Including teacher, parents and children.
Other points:
Did you contribute to the Byron consultation at all?
If you and other students at the school would like to take part in a survey about social networking and online safety, with teachers’ permission, of course, I’d send you the analysis of the results. Students can take the survey anonymously, ie without giving their name or email address. It would take around 5-10 minutes to do, if teachers were able to allow that time in their lessons. The advantage for me is that I’d have more stats (nearly 600 results so far), but more importantly, the benefit for you would be that you’d be able to include data from your own school in future assemblies, if you think that would be a good idea. For example, you could say things like “X percent of you have a MySpace account, and 10% of you have been pestered by someone you don’t know” Anyway, please think about that and have a chat with Mr Guy and Miss Bond, and if you’d like to take part in the survey you will find it here.
I’d be interested to know how you personally have benefited. For example, in the new secondary curriculum there is a big emphasis on these skills:
independent enquirers
creative thinkers
reflective learners
team workers
self-managers
effective participators.
Do you think that you gained or improved in any of them?
Please feel free to add any comments. It would be nice if each of you could say something, with your name in brackets after it, so that I could put in things like “Hannah agrees. She says….”, and “According to Amy…”. Even if I write this up as an interview, it would still spice it up a bit to be able to put in a few quotes like that.
Internet Safety Pack Interview
Feel free to populate the answers with examples and anecdotes.Name of school
Glenmoor Secondary SchoolBackground info (I can get this from the internet, but feel free to add something if you wish)
We are an all girls school based in Bournemouth. It has got around 900 students aged between 11 to 16 on roll call. We are a specialist in Maths and Computing school and therefore have 3 IT suites and a fantastic new resource called the Open Learning Centre. This has 72 computers which is largely open access and also open to the public out of hours. All 3 girls involved in our Internet Safety Assemblies are studying out top ICT qualifaction (worth 4 GCSEs) and have also started the ECDL course.Just to help me get a picture:
I won't use the information in this form, if at all. It just helps me to get a sense of what the school environment is like, tech-wise.
Do you have fast broadband access to the internet?
If so, is that from anywhere in the school?
Does the school have a Learning Platform, and if so which one, and is it well used?
Are sites like YouTube, Blogger and Facebook blocked?
Do all staff have laptops?
Do all students have laptops or handheld devices?
What's the pupil:computer ratio?
Are digital voice recorders available for use (for podcasting), or camcorders, or digital cameras?
Who is involved? (Girls' surnames won't be used in the article)
Three year 10 girls Jessica, Jasmin and Alice. There are also four year 11s Hannah, Jasminn, Amy and Kim are also heavily involved in Internet safety and have spoken at a National Conference in London and attending the IYAC. The IYAC involved them attending a 5 day event in London last July which was attended by representives from 25 countries. At the end they created a proposal which will be submitted to the United Nations for approval on the topic of Internet Safety.Would this be referring to the first press release given here(21st July 2008)?
Just to say, I think it's wonderful that you were invited to be involved in that. Well done.
Are you happy for me to use your first names, or would you rather I changed your names completely? Please bear in mind that the advantage of using your real names is that you get the credit, but the disadvantage is that it could be possible for someone to find out who you are given first name and year group (which I think I'd have to include otherwise there is no proper context). Please discuss with teachers and let me know, and ask your teacher to let me know that they approve your decision if you wish to use real names.
On the subject of Year groups, would I be correct in thinking that you were in Years 9 and 10 when the pack was created?
What is the internet safety pack?
The pack was printed powerpoint slides that the girls presented in assembly to all years in the school. The assembly also included the "You think you know" Internet Safety video which was then discussed.I am glad you decided to reword this, as it originally sounded like you showed something pretty nasty! How about something along the lines of "We also showed a video of a child who had been the victim of abuse. The video was made by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The video we showed was this one"? Was that the video you showed?
What does it consist of?
Slides in powerpoint containing research about internet statistics, the pros and cons of using the internet. There was also a section detailing hints and tips when using the Internet and staying safe.May I have a copy of it please (excluding the video)?
Why did you create it?
Originally all girls were chosen by Mr Guy (our Head of ICT) because we showed an active interest in the subject.What subject? ICT in general, or internet safety in particular?
Once we all started we found the subject really interesting and were shocked to find out how uninformed people actually are about the dangers. We wanted to make people aware about how the internet can harm you if you dont know who you are talking to.
Were you given time in school to do it?
Yes, some during ICT lessons but generally we worked with Mr Guy after school hours.Did it count towards anything, eg as a project for GCSE ICT?
No, we did it because it interested us and we wanted to raise awareness in other students.Are you actually doing a course in ICT now?
Yes OCR Nationals Level 2 in Information Technology (equiv 4 GCSEs) and ECDLThe OCR qualification looks very good. Nice to get the ECDL certificate too.
How did it work, ie what exactly did you do with the pack?
We gave assembelies to every year in the school with prinouts of the pack available afterwards.Who was the target audience?
11-15 year olds mainly. Although the content was suitable for wider audiences.Do you think your peers listened to you? How do you know?
Yes because afterwards we had a student go to Miss Bond (our child protection officer) to discuss problems that she had on msn.What was that, somebody pestering her, or cyberbullying, or what? No need to say if you would rather not.
Also, did it have a lasting impact, or is it too early to say?
Its too early to say but we have already had evidence of the impact. Our peers have also commented on the assembly and we were very pleased with the feedback.What would be really helpful in this context would be some statistics, if you’ve got them (eg 78% of pupils thought it was very good), and examples of comments (if you kept them).
Why do you think it is appropriate to have pictures of girls on an internet safety pack? Surely this is self-contradictory in a sense?
Girls and boys both use the Internet and are therefore both a target audience for such a pack so we do not feel so. Although we did not use any pupil photos or names in our pack at all.If I remember correctly, there was no indication of where the picture came from, which is why I wondered if it was of pupils at the school.
Where was it distributed?
Internally in school.Do you intend to do it again? If so, will you amend it?
Yes we wish to carry on and do even more research. We have lots of ideas. Software is always changing so we need to make sure we are always up to date. We want to liase with other schools to share our research and ideas with them.That is interesting. I have a couple of Qs:
Have you shared it with other schools, or will you sell it?
We would like the oppertunity share it with other schools which was one of the reasons we entered the Rolls Royce Competition. We were very thrilled to win a prize as well.Yes, a prize well-deserved. I was really pleased when it was announced. Congratulations.
What lessons have you learnt from doing this?
We now know a lot about internet safety and now we realise how much teenagers aren't aware of the risks.The interesting thing for me is that from my own research and what other people have written, teenagers often DO know the risks in theory, but don’t act as though they do. You might find this article, by a 16 y/o girl, interesting in this respect.
This could be very dangerous. The year 11s who attended the IYAC also commented it was frightning how little parents know about the risks, and very few have talked to their children about it.
I agree with you. It’s exactly the same in the USA too.
Any other points you'd like to add?
Overall we feel Internet Safety needs more awareness as people just don't know enough about it. Including teacher, parents and children.Other points:
- Did you contribute to the Byron consultation at all?
- If you and other students at the school would like to take part in a survey about social networking and online safety, with teachers’ permission, of course, I’d send you the analysis of the results. Students can take the survey anonymously, ie without giving their name or email address. It would take around 5-10 minutes to do, if teachers were able to allow that time in their lessons. The advantage for me is that I’d have more stats (nearly 600 results so far), but more importantly, the benefit for you would be that you’d be able to include data from your own school in future assemblies, if you think that would be a good idea. For example, you could say things like “X percent of you have a MySpace account, and 10% of you have been pestered by someone you don’t know” Anyway, please think about that and have a chat with Mr Guy and Miss Bond, and if you’d like to take part in the survey you will find it here.
- I’d be interested to know how you personally have benefited. For example, in the new secondary curriculum there is a big emphasis on these skills:
- independent enquirers
- creative thinkers
- reflective learners
- team workers
- self-managers
- effective participators.
Do you think that you gained or improved in any of them?